Wednesday, 5 June 2019

 Ms SETTLE (Buninyong) (19:02): (739) The action that I seek is to ask the Minister for Roads, the Honourable Jaala Pulford, to come to my electorate and visit the Hertford Street roundabout. On 13 April this year I hosted a well-attended event, Spotlight on Sebastopol. It was a community engagement event to listen to the needs and concerns of the Sebastopol community. The Andrews government is investing $5 million to enhance the area and the consultation was to hear feedback and suggestions on how the funding would be best spent—after all, no-one knows the area better than a local. One of the issues that came up in almost every conversation held that day was the Hertford and Albert streets roundabout. Although the funding being discussed was not to address roads, this consultation served as a reminder that this particular roundabout has been the bane of local road users’ existence.

This intersection is used by those living in Sebastopol daily and is a part of the route into Ballarat from Buninyong all the way down to Geelong. The Andrews government in its 2019 budget included a ‘Keeping Ballarat Moving’ package worth over $60 million. Those of us who use this road will welcome the news that this package includes the funding to widen this intersection and replace the roundabout with new traffic lights. This was a celebrated election commitment, and the community certainly appreciated a government that listened and was getting things done.

Given the importance of this vital upgrade to the local community and the essential role this intersection plays on a major travel route, I would like to request that the Minister for Roads, the Honourable Jaala Pulford, inspect this site with me. It is important that this intersection upgrade is one of the highest standard and that work is carried out with as little disruption as possible to the traffic flow. It would be wonderful to welcome the minister to visit the Hertford Street roundabout with me.